1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for cleaning a magnetic disk recording and reproducing head during production of the magnetic head to prevent damage due to various in process contaminants.
2. Description of Related Art
Removal of contaminants during the manufacture of magnetic heads plays an important role in performance and durability of disk drive systems. As device sizes in the industry are reduced and the number of process steps increased, contamination control requirements become more stringent. A major cause of yield loss in magnetic head fabrication can be traced to the manufacturer's processing methods and tools including deposition processes, grinding, lapping and slicing, each a notorious source of particles.
With the current size of magnetic heads, circuitry deposited on the magnetic heads may have line widths and spacing between lines on the order of 0.001 in. Particles wedging between deposited lines can later come loose, falling between the magnetic head and the magnetic disk rotating beneath causing failure of a disk drive system containing the magnetic head.
FIG. 1 shows a typical magnetic head row tool used in fabricating a plurality of magnetic heads. The magnetic head row tool consists of a ceramic or metallic substrate 100, or other structure such as a bar on which magnetic heads 102 are fabricated.
The expanded view of a magnetic head 102 shows detail of two sides of the magnetic head, a deposition side 106 and an identification side 112. The deposition side shows bonding pads 108 with pad widths and spacing between bonding pads on the order of 0.001-0.005 in. The pads 108 are deposited to carry signals to and from the windings of the magnetic head device. The identification side shows the identification numbers which are typically inscribed into the magnetic head. Like the deposited lines on the deposition side, particles can also become wedged in the identification numbers on the identification side.
Conventional techniques used by manufacturers to remove contaminants from the heads during manufacture include spraying the heads with high pressure deionized (DI) water, using ultrasonics, and spraying with a vapor degreaser such as freon.
The results of conventional techniques have not been satisfactory. The high pressure and ultrasonic systems basically do not break away the debris and vapor systems loosen contaminants from the magnetic head but do not take the contaminant off. Vapor systems also can cause an adverse environmental impact.